Almost a year later, Andy Rubin has yet to tweet again (about anything) — and has, with little fanfare, exited Google.

Which leaves me with just one question: Where are my freakin’ Google Robots, Andy?

Thus far, the Google robot legacy has been one of frustration. For the better part of a year, I watched as Google snapped up one major robotics company after another. Most were, admittedly, well known only to the robot community. But the Boston Dynamics acquisition stood out, because its videos of walking, running, jumping and lumbering Big Dog robots had captured the imagination of millions of viewers on YouTube.

Watching Google’s automaton buying spree reminded me a little bit of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. In that book, industrialist John Galt quietly spirits away all the great entrepreneurs to his private Utopia in order to "stop the engine of the world." Similarly, Google’s robot buying spree did sap some of the energy from the robotics development space.

Certainly, things that had previously been visible on blogs, in videos and at robot competitions were suddenly gone.

All year long, I kept wondering, “What is Google doing with all these robot companies?” “What are they building?” and most importantly, “where are my freakin' robots?”

Not nothing

Obviously, I know all about the prototype self-driving car Google co-founder Sergey Brin unveiled earlier this year at the Code conference. But that seemed to have little do with Rubin or Google’s robotics initiative.

I’ve asked Google, multiple times, for insight into its robot plans. They tell me they have nothing to share. Rubin has said nothing specific, though, according to the New York Times he did say last year that the fruits of Google’s robot labor could appear within “several years.”

It worried me that neither Google nor Rubin offered a single blog post, tweet or Google+ update on their robot progress. First of all, that’s not how typical robotics firms usually work. Until its acquisition by Google, Boston Dynamics couldn’t stop sharing, and entertained the Internet with a steady stream of alternating amazing and creepy robot advancements.

Why is it that Google’s entrance into the world of robotics has resulted in less robot information and sharing? One can only assume that there was little or unsatisfactory progress.

Rubin’s exit does not mark the end of Google’s robot skunk works. Google scientist James Kuffner is taking over. Like Rubin, he’s a roboticist. Unlike Rubin, he shares a bit more frequently on Google+ about robot developments. Still, there are no specifics to be found; Kuffner’s most recent post on August 11 was his photos of the super moon.

Why and what does it mean

Since we don’t know what Rubin was doing within the broad field of robotics, it’s hard to know how large of a hole his exit creates. Even so, the world of robotics is a relatively small, tightly wound community. Whether or not people know each other, they understand the difficulties inherent in consumer robotics development. They feel each other’s pain.

Tandy Trower spent nearly 28 years with Microsoft before helping it launch one of the earliest “off the shelf" robotics development kits. He left Microsoft in 2009 to found his own robotics company, Hoaloha Robotics, devoted to building robotic caregiver technologies that can help support the world’s rapidly aging population.

Trower didn’t want to speculate on exactly why Rubin left, but did tell me that with all the robotics technologies Rubin brought into Google, it’s unlikely his exit will have a huge impact. “Maybe priorities or market focus will shift,” he suggested. Still, Trower does think Rubin’s departure points to some larger truths about robotics development:

It also somewhat reflects that while there is a lot of energy and investment flowing into robotics the industry still struggles to deliver a significant personal form that is more than a gadget or toy. Speaking from my experience, that is not a trivial task. While the needed technologies are increasingly accessible, putting it all together in a form that can deliver significant/compelling value, that's safe, at the right price, and fits our expectations on user experience is still hard. I've been working at it now for 5 years since I left Microsoft and I am still not done.

iRobot CEO and Co-founder Colin Angle echoed Trower on this point: robotics, especially devices that have to interact with consumers, is hard. "Andy Rubin has always been an advocate for and innovator within the robot industry," Angle said. "Building a robot initiative within a company focused on online information is a daunting task, and I’m sure Andy was up for the challenge.”

While we wait for Google to finally reveal something –- anything — about its next big robot innovation, there are still many other places we can get our robot fix. There’s Jibo, the family robot that may arrive some time in 2015, Honda’s Asimo, and Aldebaran’s NAO educational and research robot, the one that most recently turned up at IBM’s new Watson facility in New York.

Aldebaran is also involved with Softbank’s Pepper, a humanoid, cloud-based robot that goes on sale next year for $2,000. CEO Bruno Maisonnier has spent nearly 30 years in the robotics space. When I spoke to him earlier this year he recalled his struggles to build “the IBM of robotics.” That was back in the early 1980s. “It was not the right time,” said Maisonnier. “[The technology] needed 20 more years.”

Perhaps Rubin found something similar — that, despite all the advances, the technology was still not ready for his own robot vision? Maisonnier preferred to congratulate rather than speculate:

I wish Andy all the success in his new professional adventure, which I'm sure will be as wonderful as his past career. If he decided to take some well-deserved time off in between, NAO, Pepper, and myself would be delighted to welcome him at our Paris Atelier to talk about — maybe — robots.

Who knows — now that Rubin has stepped out of Google’s black box, maybe he’ll start talking about robots again. His next gig is running a hardware technology incubator, which sounds like a perfect fit for robot innovation. So while Rubin goes back to helping develop tiny robot startups that Google will likely someday acquire, I will try to temper my frustration.

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